Joseph Nye elaborates upon smart power – a term he has taken credit for coining – which gained prominence during Hillary Clinton’s recent confirmation hearings. This policy of ‘good cop-bad cop’ America leads the ‘Kennan sweepstakes’ for the next big catchphrase to encapsulate the United States’ foreign policy doctrine.

Barack Obama’s inauguration speech was censored in China. Too bad, since some of it appeared to be aimed at Beijing (or at least, that’s what I thought at the time).

In The Wall Street Journal, Juan Williams warns that Americans should not be swayed by the triumph over racism, implicit in the election of Barack Obama; instead, they should judge the new president on his performance. Indians are ahead of the curve on this one.